Georgen, a trauma surgeon at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah, has seen the damage those wounds cause to patients, as well as the the families of those who have been hurt.

“I’ve basically spent my entire career taking care of people who have these types of injuries,” he said. “It’s a major health care issue."

Georgen has treated people with all types of gunshot wounds — people hurt in crimes of violence, people who were accidentally shot and people who turned guns on themselves.

He estimated he treats a patient with a gunshot wound at least once a month, if not more often. The circumstances may vary, he said, but the outcomes almost always change the lives of the people involved. And doctors are often the ones left to try to pick up the pieces.

“We’re the individuals who are taking care of it,” he said. “It is becoming progressively more and more of a problem in our society.”

But in a tweet posted in early November, the National Rifle Association criticized doctors who involve themselves in the gun debate, describing them as "self-important" and telling them to "stay in their lane."